Fruitset!!

[FlipTX]

About how hot does it get where y'all Texans are?

Where I am, summers are typically in the 90s (with forays into the 100s sometimes), and about as humid a sauna. I don't usually try to keep my spring tomatoes going through the summer. Too many spider mites, disease pressures, and no fruitset to deal with. I might give Sunmaster a try, though, as an experiment.

[kwselke]

I think what most folks do not understand about Houston weather is that it gets hot and stays hot all the time. After Memorial May the standard weather forecast is usually... High 92 Low 82 with a 20% chance of rain.

[Dewayne mater]

Jenna, I'm still pretty new at this hobby, but this Spring I've had 3 occassions since planting out in early March where I've covered every plant in thick clear plastic for 24-48 hours to endure temps in the 32-35 degree range. I followed moderator Suzanne's advice and put the plastic on around 5 p.m. after the day's sunshine to trap whatever heat I could and either that worked or I got lucky as all plants are healthy and most are blooming.

On the other end of the spectrum, in DFW it gets over 90 and it stays there (it actually goes up to 100 or more with frequency throughout the summer) starting in mid May or so typically. Once we're at 92+ and given the humidity which keeps the night time temps from falling much below 80, fruit set is over for me. I keep what I have alive long enough to get every tom harvested and then pull the plants. Last year I tried a fall crop starting on August 1 with transplants. This year I will start the fall crop in July to extend the fall season, hopefully. Good luck.

[feldon30]

The overnight humidity in Houston means you will get all your fruitset in April, maybe a few sporadic chances at fruitset in early May if you are lucky, and then whatever fruitset you've got, that is all the tomatoes you rae going to get until September. Except for cherries in some years, but those go down pretty fast in August from spider mites, and that's if the stink bugs don't damage all the fruit first.

[duajones]

Same here in Corpus,fruitset these next 2-3 weeks will determine what type of year I will have production wise. Hoping for the best

[AZRuss]

Houston... my brother lives there. I live in Tucson and I tell people that they haven't been hot until they've been hot in Houston. It's the truth!

Anyway, I wonder if you Texans have tried some of the heat set determinate hybrids, such as Solar Set, Heat Wave, Bella Rosa, Homestead and Sunmaster. Have you had success with any varieties into June and July?

[newgardener_tx]

Really guys? Fruitsets only in April? It is already 10th of April today! How about Austin? Can I expect end of May? I know most of tomatoes don't set fruit if temp. is higher that 95F and brandywine at 85F. I was dreaming 10-20 lbs of tomato from each plant. Are you all saying we will only get 3-5lbs after we cover, uncover three times in March? I am thinking If I can cover the plants with those sun block cloth I may extend the fruitsets? or I will the plants some juice to let them set fruit as early as possible.

I have fruits on sweet gold, Arkansa Traveler and bush celebrity.

[Mojo]

Quick close inspection while laying out more mulch revealed pachinko-sized fruits on at least one Cherokee Purple. But to heck with that, the first zucchini of the season will be ready sometime next week, and the cukes are rebounding strong from the near-frost this week (blossoms appeared today, heralding baby cukes in two weeks).

UPDATE: EGAD! Fruit-set on multiple plants, including (how in blazes did I miss 'em?!?) three golf-ball-sized fruits on what evidently must be an Early Goliath (no CP anywhere in that bed has fruit like that).

[duajones]

newgardener, I would expect your heaviest fruitset to occur over the next 3-4 weeks. Daytime temps above 90 and night time temps above 75 greatly reduce fruitset. But I believe 10-20 lbs per plant isnt out of reach as far as productivity. I believe I averaged around 15 lbs per plant last season, others do even better

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by AZRuss

Anyway, I wonder if you Texans have tried some of the heat set determinate hybrids, such as Solar Set, Heat Wave, Bella Rosa, Homestead and Sunmaster. Have you had success with any varieties into June and July?

I'm just not interested in tomatoes which don't taste significantly better than grocery store varieties. And I believe these only give tomatoes 1-2 weeks later than open pollinated varieties.

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by newgardener_tx

Really guys? Fruitsets only in April? It is already 10th of April today!

Fruitset for 2007 (including cherries):
April 13: 68
April 17: 97
April 20: 145
April 22: 154
April 26: 200
(stopped counting)

Fruitset for 2008 (including cherries):
April 15: 50
April 17: 73
April 18: 82
April 20: 87
April 23: 93
April 26: 111
May 1: 249
May 3: 313
May 7: 351
(stopped counting)

Originally Posted by newgardener_tx

How about Austin? Can I expect end of May? I know most of tomatoes don't set fruit if temp. is higher that 95F and brandywine at 85F.

Daytime temp is only part of the story. If overnight temps are not dropping below 75, and humidity is staying high, then fruit will not set. Ideal fruitset time is when overnight temps are in the mid-50's to mid-60's.

Originally Posted by newgardener_tx

I was dreaming 10-20 lbs of tomato from each plant.

I got that much last year from Gregori's Altai, Jet Star, Brad's Black Heart, Black Early, Paul Robeson, Hege German Pink. I got slightly less from JD's Special C-Tex.


[+] Zoom In


I grow Brandywine and Earl's Faux knowing that I will only get 5-8 tomatoes from each plant. They'll be the best darn tomatoes you've ever tasted, but you only get so many of them.

Originally Posted by newgardener_tx

I am thinking If I can cover the plants with those sun block cloth I may extend the fruitsets?

I would not drape a cloth directly on the plants, as it could exacerbate your problems. You want lots of airflow around the plants so it is cool as possible overnight. You don't want to retain any heat or humidity around the plants. This is why plant spacing and airflow are crucial. If your plants are really bushy and touching, I might do some light pruning to make sure there is spacing between them.

Towards the end of April, I go out early in the morning with an electric toothbrush and touch each flower cluster on each plant until pollen shoots out. It certainly doesn't seem to hurt fruitset.

http://www.feldoncentral.com/garden/...llination2.avi

Originally Posted by newgardener_tx

I have fruits on sweet gold, Arkansas Traveler and Bush Celebrity.

I would say take a deep breath and relax. Your tomato plants will double in size in the next 3 weeks and put on a lot more flower clusters.

I went through this anxiety last year and the year before. I think I am finally getting to the point where I accept that the tomatoes will set whenever they decide to set. I properly amended the soil, got large plants into the ground early, protected them from frost and cold weather, and have watered them properly and mulched well with leaves. All I can do now is wait and water.

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by Mojo

Quick close inspection while laying out more mulch revealed pachinko-sized fruits on at least one Cherokee Purple. But to heck with that, the first zucchini of the season will be ready sometime next week, and the cukes are rebounding strong from the near-frost this week (blossoms appeared today, heralding baby cukes in two weeks).

UPDATE: EGAD! Fruit-set on multiple plants, including (how in blazes did I miss 'em?!?) three golf-ball-sized fruits on what evidently must be an Early Goliath (no CP anywhere in that bed has fruit like that).

Might be worth printing up a chart with all your varieties on the left and 10-15 columns going down and clip it to a clipboard. Put a date at hte top of one of the columns, go outside, and start counting. I did this in '07 and '08. I'm so glad I have this information now.

[Dewayne mater]

Feldon: That's a post loaded with lots of good stuff. I do take one exception though and that is as the use of sun shade cloth. My beds all face south and are up against a tall brick wall of my house that faces due south and gets very warm in the afternoon. When it gets warm out, like 90, I get sunshade cloth up and it seems to extend the healthy life of my plants and reduce disease and insect problems because the plant is healthier. The shade takes off the searing daytime heat and cuts down on the heat from the hot brick wall too. Not sure in increases production, but it does seem to make my plants stay happier.

[feldon30]

Thanks for that. How high above the plants do you set up the sun block cloth? Did You build a frame over your garden beds to drape that cloth over?

[Dewayne mater]

I use a very rudimentary system. I bought the tallest plant pole/stakes from Home Depot with the green plastic cover (7 Feet?) put one on each corner of the rectangular bed. I attach with zip strips in the pre made metal eye holes (forget the name of those, eyelettes?) sewn into the sun shade cloth. FYI, the cloth was custom cut from a vendor reccommended on GW. The whole cloth sits about 6 inches to 1 foot above the plants. As they grow, I push the zip strips up the green poles which have edging that holds the cloth up, keeping the cloth above the plant, not on them if at all possible. I do have to support the poles with ground stakes and rope, as you would a tent.

It's lucky this area of the yard is not seen from the rest of the back yard b/c it is an ugly contraption and the missus wouldn't approve if she had to look at it! Used it the first time last year and it was the first time I didn't have a spider mite issue, which may be luck, or it may be some other factor like a regular foliar feed, who knows?